VANCOUVER — Nikita Tolopilo may never become the Vancouver Canucks’ goaltender-of-the-future, but with his team desperate, the 25-year-old minor-league callup became the goaltender-of-the-moment on Thursday.
The undrafted Belarusian, who has been building his game in the American Hockey League for most of three seasons, made 32 saves to help the Canucks halt another losing streak with a 2-0 home win against the Anaheim Ducks.
The performance won’t count as an individual National Hockey League shutout, as a concussion-spotter forced Tolopilo to miss the first two minutes of the second period when veteran goalie Kevin Lankinen went in net for Vancouver and made one save.
But the positive night, an actual feel-good story for the Canucks, meant more than just a team shutout to an organization that is mercifully nearing the end of one of the worst months in franchise history.
The victory was just Vancouver’s second in 16 games since Dec. 29, and only its sixth win in 26 games at Rogers Arena this season.
It considerably brightens the January gloom around the last-place team as it prepares to end an eight-game homestand Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“You know, to have a moment like that, yeah, I'm really proud of him, happy for him,” Lankinen said of Tolopilo, who started for just the sixth time this season and seventh time in the NHL. “He's been working really hard to get this moment, and I just want to be there in support. It’s a big win, but more so for the goalie department, a big shutout, too.”
After Ducks forward Ryan Poehling crashed into Tolopilo on a rush to the net with 2:01 remaining in the first period, negating what would have been an Anaheim goal, the netminder was flagged by the concussion spotter and spent the first intermission clearing protocol.
Lankinen was told to get ready to start the second, although the Canucks were hoping Tolopilo might be cleared by the end of the intermission.
“I was hoping, yeah, but like, it takes a while,” Tolopilo said. “I think I actually did it pretty quickly.
“Like, every game, every night, it's so important. I'm just happy, you know, that we got a win. Hopefully we're going to keep building on that and get more.”
The Canucks earned the victory when Drew O’Connor whacked a fluttering puck from Jake DeBrusk’s pass just past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal with 9:42 remaining.
Vancouver centre Aatu Raty had forced Jacob Trouba into a turnover just inside the Anaheim blue line, springing DeBrusk and O’Connor on a quick two-on one.
With Conor Garland in the penalty box and the Canucks skating four-against-six, Teddy Blueger shot shorthanded into an empty net with 28 seconds to go. It was his third goal in five games since missing half the season.
“Obviously, Tolo was great in net,” DeBrusk said. “I think that we tried to do what we've kind of been struggling at lately and taking care of the front of our net and things like that. But saying that, Tolo made some big saves at the right times, and I’ve got to give credit where it’s due.
“A win’s nice. You’re always happy for guys that have good performances. And, yeah, winning is the best. It's easy to be positive when we win at home.”
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The Ducks were missing three of their best forwards, including top centres Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish. But the injuries earned no sympathy from the Canucks, who were without two of their top three centres for three months and for two weeks in December played without any of Elias Pettersson, Filip Chytil and Blueger.
The Ducks, however, remain a dangerous team off the rush. But the Canucks were much better defensively than they’ve been for most of January.
Tolopilo stopped Gauthier on a two-on-one after a mistake by Canuck rookie Tom Willander, and made a strong close-range stop against Jeffrey Viel near the end of the third period. But there were far fewer of the defensive-zone breakdowns and open tracts of ice that have marked the Canucks’ deep dive to the bottom of the NHL standings.
“I thought we were a bit more connected,” veteran defenceman Marcus Pettersson said. “And when we're connected, it's easier to break out of our zone, easier to defend. When we get disconnected, it's a lot of one-man efforts, and it's tough to play against teams that just roll over you when it looks like an individual effort. A win is a win, but a win like that really boosts our ability to know that we can shut down teams.”
On Tolopilo, Pettersson said: “He was great. He swallowed a lot of pucks. There wasn't a whole lot of rebounds out there, and the ones that were there were predictable. It was great to see him out there.”
Asked if Lankinen would get half the shutout, Tolopilo said: “Yeah, we split it.”
“I'm not going to take credit for that,” Lankinen smiled. “That’s all Tolo. That's his night tonight, so let him celebrate.”
A lot of other Canucks were sharing the joy, enjoying a sudden outbreak of happiness.
“Yeah, it's big,” Lankinen said. “Every win is big. And especially here on home ice, we want to make our record a lot better. The fans deserve a lot better, and so does everybody in this room. So getting a win, it's good to gain some momentum, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
